The International Court of Justice has asked India to make its submission in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case by September 13, Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday. Pakistan has also been asked to complete its submission by December 13. Earlier today, Pakistan had claimed the Hague court rejected India’s request to delay proceedings of Jadhav’s case until December.

“India had asked the ICJ to offer it time till December to file pleadings in the Jadhav case, however, “the court has dismissed their request,” Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali was quoted as saying by Dawn. “India had adopted the stance that the matter was one of life and death, but Pakistan had stated that the ICJ is not a court of appeals. The ICJ is supposed to conclude whether or not Jadhav can receive consular access, for which a time period of two to three months is more than enough to file a response,” he further said.

Retired Indian Navy officer, Jadhav, had been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April for alleged “involvement in espionage and terrorist activities in Pakistan.” Following India’s intervention in the matter, ICJ asked Pakistan to put a stay on Jadhav’s execution.

While Pakistan claims Jadhav had been arrested from restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he allegedly entered from Iran, India had rubbished those claims saying Jadhav had been kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy.